Notes

3. Teaching reflections

Yesterday's class session went well. FINALLY! I felt like I was
_really_ doing something. What made the difference?

Attendance. The professor emphasized the importance of the lab, so
all the students showed up. The previous two lab saw half the seats
empty, which distracted me a bit. A full house gave me more energy
to work with and more questions to field during the lab portion.

Preparation. I remembered to tell students about the detailed lab
handouts prepared by the previous teaching assistant. The students
also spent some time working on the project, which gave them plenty
of questions to ask.

Timing. The students had the theoretical background from the
lecture _and_ the practical need for the tool (even if it was a
need created by the project definition). The previous two lab
sessions were a little too early, and the lack of theory and need
confused the students. This time, though, everything fit.

That was the third time I'd covered roughly the same material, and the
difference really showed. I learned from my mistakes and a few brave
students' questions, and I figured out what aspects I needed to focus
on in order to address their concerns.

I was supposed to introduce JESS, the Java Expert System Shell, but I
felt that focusing on Weka for the entire session would leave the
students with better understanding. That was a good call. There's
enough time to briefly introduce JESS next session, anyway.

What can I do better next time? Preparation is something within my
control: always make sure that learning is motivated by something and
that students have written instructions that they can follow at their
own pace. Attendance and timing are things I can address with the
professor's help. I'll also take comfort in the fact that things get a
little easier the more I teach them, so I shouldn't be too worried
when I completely bomb the first time I teach something! =)

2. Headless chicken impression

Lab 1: What If? Scenarios in Microsoft Excel turned out to be an
excruciating demonstration of Murphy's Law straight out of a Worst
Case Scenarios book. I put the Microsoft Excel file on my website and
confirmed that it worked before the class started. I had my spiel all
set up and ready to go. I labeled each desk with teams to help people
find each other. And then I waited.

Ten minutes. Fifteen. People still weren’t there, so I started the lab
with just half the class present.

I told them about my commitment to not just teach, but help people
learn. I got their feedback on what works for them and what doesn’t.
(Good: provide lots of exercises, ask questions, give help. Bad:
computers that don’t work, teaching too fast.) I asked them to help me
remember to slow down.

Then I started on the lab.

Or at least, I tried to. Murphy’s Law just steamrolled right over me.

sacha.sachachua.com was unreachable. I had a copy of the lab on my
computer, but no USB disk. I couldn't connect my laptop to the lab
network. I couldn't even remember my password to the course website in
order to upload the file after a resourceful student lent me his USB
disk.

I was sweating floods of panic.

Backup plan: I bookmarked a video demo of scenarios accompanied by a
text description. I told students to check that out while I
frantically looked for ways to get the file online.

When I couldn't figure out a way, I started Excel and tried to show
it–but the screen would’ve been nearly unreadable from the back. I
quit that in frustration and started telling people instead about why
they should learn about Scenario, Goal Seek, Solver, and other cool
functions, but hearing someone speak about the coolness of Scenario
and other things is really no substitute for actually doing things,
actually trying things out.

And when I said all that I needed to say about that, I apologized for
wasting their time and being such a terrible TA. I had done very
things I hated about ineffective teaching–boring lectures, unprepared
chaos, unclear structure. That was my responsibility, and I flubbed
it.

The students were amazingly supportive. "It’s the effort that counts."
"Don’t worry, there’s next time." "You’re better than some of our
other TAs." (Funny how that one comment can be both encouraging and
saddening.)

And they _applauded._

They clapped for the girl up there in front going to pieces in front
of the crowd, who had nothing going right for her but who still kept
going anyway because passion wouldn't let her just give up and not
care.

They smiled.

They told me they believed in me.

I'm there to help them learn about decision support systems, but
they're going to teach me far more about teaching and learning and
life.

I'm going to listen to the recording of the session later. It's going
to be absolutely painful, but I'll learn from it anyway. (Must stock
up on chocolate before I do that.)

What did I learn?

- Upload copies of lab stuff _everywhere_: CCNet, my website, Gmail, etc.
- Add stuff to the S: drive so that people can easily grab it.
- Might be better to use lab time for questions; need prelab activities.
- When things get really messed up, that personal connection is what’s going to pull me through the painful moments.

1. Teaching assistantship

The teaching assistant for the next class promised to pass by at 1:00
to pick up the projector, but he didn't show up until 2:00. I couldn't
leave the projector alone and the office was closed, so I ended up
waiting in the lab for an hour. I used the time to read through
lecture notes. Interesting handouts! I particularly liked the articles
from business magazines on decision support systems and change
management.

I also reviewed Excel features in preparation for my labs. It's such a
pity that the book I was reading was published in 1994. Yes, it's
_that_ old. Egads. I really need to find a newer book on Microsoft
Excel. Yes, guys, my job as a teaching assistant involves preaching
the goodness of Excel. It's not a bad tool, really. I like Solver and
I think PivotTables are really powerful in the right hands.
Microsoft Excel is abused far less often than Microsoft Word. (Hear
that, all you people sending DOCs when web pages or text files would
do?) It's also less insidious than Microsoft Powerpoint, which stunts
most people's presentation skills. Microsoft Excel is not a bad thing.

=)

I need to figure out a good way to do the labs. The room is a classic
computer lab with big monitors on rows and rows of desks. At 5'1/4", I
can barely be seen from the back row--and that's already with my
attention-getting red-and-orange outfit!

Demonstrations would also be hard to follow from the back. There are
far too many distractions: the hum of the airconditioner, the
clickety-clack of other keyboards, the glow of almost forty other
monitors... And it's 12 - 1 PM, too! Heck, _I_ felt kinda sleepy.

On the plus side, one student said she liked me because my voice was
loud enough to be heard. Hooray for drama in education, and hooray for
Toastmasters!

So.

How can I best help them learn?

What am I there to help them learn?

My job is to help them learn how to apply ideas from their decision
support systems lectures by using software such as Microsoft Excel,
Jess, and Weka.

I _could_ stand up there and demo everything, but I don't think
they'll walk away with important lessons. I want them to try out at
least one new feature: to know that it's there, why it's there, and
how to learn more about it. I want them to have time to work on their
project, too, but that's really something they're going to end up
working on outside class. I need to talk to Peter Shepard about how
much time they should budget for that project.

Self-paced lab exercises helped my first-year Java students back in
Ateneo de Manila University, and something like that just might work
here as well. I'll need to prepare interesting, engaging exercises
that will expose the students to various features of Excel. I can
spend 5 - 7 minutes (hah! A Toastmasters talk!) at the beginning of
the class to establish the importance of the topic and perhaps take
any questions, let them loose on the topics, and then wrap up at the
end. I'll need better feedback than waiting for questions. Maybe
comments on a blog or on the (very slow) course website? Little slips
of paper? Index cards? I don't know yet. I need to figure that out
before next week.

I'd love to hear about any questions, comments, suggestions or links that you might have. Your comments will not be posted on this website immediately, but will be e-mailed to me first. You can use this form to get in touch with me, or e-mail me at [email protected] .

Page: teaching

Updated: 2005-11-1721:40:0521:40:05-0500

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